Nissan now has a zero emissions van that you’ll be able to buy in a couple years -if that’s what you’re into. We won’t judge. Either way, the company seems to be creating a brand identity for its electric vehicles.

Notice how there are vague cues that harken to the Nissan Leaf in the e-NV200’s styling? That’s not a coincidence. Creating this sort of common look between the Leaf and e-NV200 is certainly intentional, and don’t be surprised to see it on future Nissan EVs. It worked for Toyota and the Prius, so of course Nissan is going to try it out here. No details about cost, powertrain or anything worthwhile were announced, just that Nissan will be building it at the same Barcelona plant as the standard NV, and 700 workers will be hired.

There are many experiments in batteries for better range, lighter weight, and lower cost. Of course, most experiments will fail but only a few need to succeed to open up a whole new cleaner and quieter life for us.

Since ICEs are only 20% efficient with 80% of the energy from gasoline and diesel being used to create heat and noise it will be only a matter of a few years before electric or something we haven’t even thought of replacing ICEs.

a) Drive a vehicle,
b) Own a vehicle,
c) Have ever been to a race track, or seen one on TV,
d) Have ever observed the Saturday night kids and their machines,
e) Understand much about the driving public.

Battery technology is moving very, very slowly; it does NOT follow the Moore’s Law that our society has become accustomed to over the last 40 years.

Nobody cares about percentage efficiencies – they care about cost to own and operate, and freedom. $40k economy cars don’t sell, and 100-mile-range vehicles are only niche players.

Heat and noise are part of the fun of driving; burnouts and powerslides are part of the American DNA.

That ‘clumsy’ ICE has powered the world for 150 years, and they are a thousand times cleaner than just 40 years ago. The latest math on EVs (of which I am a fan, by the way), is that their green-ness depends upon where you live. The power plants in some locales will actually dirty the air more by charging your EV, than simply driving a cheap compact car with a ‘clumsy’ ICE.

Heat, smoke and oily stench are part of America’s MANLY DNA – EV’s are for dirty commie hippies, you know.

I’m going to change the oil in my car today, still hoping for the day that I can afford an EV – I figure 3 more years, and I’ll never have to crawl under my car again to drain out smelly, black fluid – it’s nonsensical when you think about it.

Get an EV as soon as you can, and vote for policies that will convert your power source from coal/gas to wind/solar.

May not follow Moore’s Law but the tech does advance and will advance faster if there is a profit to be made b/c consumers will buy them. I’m ready to buy an EV – yesterday. I have a 10 mile commute and feel no need to have anything particularly interesting for that commute. Back at home I’ll continue to have vehicles that interest me and that make noise, are primitive, pollute and that need special attention to keep them “right”. When I get the itch, I’ll drive them to work just like now and leave the commuter car at home.

I’d buy a Leaf or Focus EV now if it wasn’t for the price tag. Or the Tesla S – what a car!

I had been waiting forever for Toyota to bring over the hybrid Sienna, 5 years ago while it was on sale in Japan, that thing would have sold like crazy here. The Prius V is doing well, but tree huggers would be more than happy to spend the money on a hybrid with 3 rows of seats. (that is not a SUV of course)

Correct. A gasoline powered variant of the NV200 was chosen to be the NYC Taxi of Tomorrow, barring the success of Comptroller Liu’s ADA suit to invalidate the contract (for not having enough wheelchair accessible vehicles).

With regard to the title’s question, “Have You Been Dying For An Electrified Nissan NV That Vaguely Resembles A Leaf?”, I actually HAVE been looking for exactly such a thing.

My wife wants an electric car to replace or supplement her Prius. We’re moving in a year to Seattle, home of cheap and abundant clean power (hydroelectric and wind alike). We could live with a range of 100 miles, and Seattle has many public charging points even today. So no problems with EVs as a category.

The problem is that the current options are too small for burgeoning young families, particularly in rear seat room. The Leaf’s rear legroom is 31.x” iirc, which is insufficient for modern, huge rear-facing car seats. (The Focus, Electric variant or not, isn’t much better.)

Options given our constraints include the Toyota RAV4 EV (cons: limited production, would have to travel to Cali to get one, possibly lacking in local support in Seattle?); the electrified Ford Transit Connect (cons: not sure of current status since Azure Dynamics went tits up last month); various expensive aftermarket conversions with nonexistent local support; and now this, the e-NV200.

If it materializes and is not only sold outright but sold outright in the US (Seattle specifically) then it could be a contender. That’s a lot of ifs…